LAVERN BAKER, "HEY, MEMPHIS" C/W "VOODOO VOODOO" ATLANTIC 45-2119 (REL. 9/1961)

LaVern Baker and Ruth Brown, Atlantic Records’ r&b queens of the 1950s, were yesterday’s news in 1961. The label had done them no favors in the last half of the ‘50s. In their quest to get Black artists on the white pop charts, Atlantic’s producers and arrangers forced the singers into crass pop arrangements that were guaranteed to please no one. Records like Brown’s “Lucky Lips” and Baker’s “Dix-a-billy” were at harmful odds to their talent and vision. Vocal choruses and grating novelty sounds alienated their fanbase and didn’t attract white teenagers, who liked their blues divas doing the real thing.

As a result, Atlantic neglected these two great performers as male groups and soloists achieved their goal. The Drifters, Ben E. King and The Coasters racked up an impressive slew of pop hits (albeit in records much more sympathetic to their preferred approaches). Atlantic may have been a champion of Black music, but sexism discolored their choices, and most of their women artists suffered in this period.

To Baker and Brown’s credit, they stuck with the label and did their best to assert themselves. Their finest records of these final years seldom did well, and reinforced Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler’s bias; both performers were let go in the ‘60s. Ruth Brown left Atlantic in 1962 and signed with new US imprint Philips; Baker’s final Atlantic 45, “Fly Me to the Moon,” was issued in January 1965. She moved to Brunswick Records and made a series of superb singles with their Chicago producers.

A bright spot in LaVern’s late Atlantics is “Hey, Memphis,” an answer song to Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman’s “Little Sister,” a 1961 chart-topper for Elvis Presley and one of his best rockers of the era. Baker was the ideal assignee for this sassy song, which was produced by Phil Spector, months away from the formation of his Philles label in brief partnership with his mentor Lester Sill—one of the first people the petulant mad genius screwed over in his rise to the top of the pops.

Also present in the studio on September 1, 1961 were guitarists Mickey Baker and Bucky Pizzarelli, sax man King Curtis (inaudible but present) and other session cats of note. Drummer Gary Chester is in fine form here on this attitudinal rocker, with witty lyrical changes to accommodate the role of the maligned little sister, who convinces “Memphis” she won’t disappoint him as her older sibling has.

It’s Baker’s finest side from her late Atlantic period, and it deserved to be a hit, but the public passed on it. It’s one of LaVern’s most sought-after records. I’d love to own a 1961 original, and will someday, when a seller glances at it, doesn’t know how in-demand it is, and prices it at four dollars. I’ll be there to pick that one up when it happens. In the meantime, my 2011 bootleg, sourced from the master tapes, will suffice.

>>> Hear it HERE! <<<

“Voodoo Voodoo” is not a Phil Spector production; it was made in 1958, when he was still enrolled in Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. King Curtis gets in a short but powerful solo; Panama Francis drives this manic rocker along with his excellent percussion. Baker raves on this wild juju epic that covers 1,000 miles of musical territory in under two minutes.

Why Atlantic sat on this track for three years is anyone’s guess. It would have been a major r&b hit for them in 1958; its success would have furthered Baker’s worth as an artist and, perhaps, kept her away from such horrors as “Humpty Dumpty Heart.” Ye of strong constitution, look that one up on YouTube. Better yet—don’t. It and other songs of that ilk were a waste of Ms. Baker’s time and talent. Atlantic Records did LaVern Baker and Ruth Brown wrong after years of faithful service. A deep sigh for the toxic effects of male hubris in the music world.

>>> Hear it HERE! <<<

Tomorrow: Bakersfield country star Tommy Collins with a fab 1960 rocker that celebrates the joys of feline friendship. A Capitol charmer with a classic-country flip.